2018 Festival of Environmental Law & Governance

This two-day event aimed to develop interdisciplinary research collaboration(s) on a variety of threats to ocean health and the related challenges to sustainable development. The event took as its starting point the outcome of the 2017 UN Ocean Conference “Our Ocean, Our Future: Call for Action” and the inter-disciplinary research findings coordinated by the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) on SDG 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.”

This roundtable discussed the latest science and policy developments on the ocean and its importance for life on earth, in particular for the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals. The event was opened by the Principal, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, and gathered marine science, policy and legal experts from the UK, the Caribbean, Africa and the South Pacific.

This workshop provided an opportunity to learn about recent initiatives to assess the risks to the environment and human rights arising from Brexit, and to identify opportunities to strengthen both environmental and human rights protection in Scotland and the UK.

Keynote speakers included Ian Jardine (Scottish Government - National Adviser on Environmental Policy) and Prof Alan Miller, Chair of the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership.

This 2 day colloquium provided an opportunity for Post Docs, Ph.D., MPhil and LLM students engaged in research in any area of environmental law and governance to present and discuss their work and network with other peers and experts working in this area of law.

Climate Change is a global challenge and one which is increasingly coming before national tribunals. But why is climate change in the courts? Building on a global project exploring climate change litigation in over 40 countries, this public lecture discussed why climate change before national tribunals is on the rise, highlighting examples of climate change cases from around the world and discussed where and why this is likely to happen next.

This was an interactive and informal roundtable where participants shared their current projects in environmental law and governance at the international, EU and national levels, explored areas of common interest and potential ideas for future collaborations, as well as provided tips to students on career prospects and jobs in the area of environmental law and governance. There was also the chance to hear from PhD students who have undertaken internships or collaborative studentships with external organisations.

This 2 hour Masterclass, led by Nicholas Puschman (SCELG LLM Alumni), included a 1 hour introduction to space law and how it fits into public international law and provided comparative analysis of space law, law of the sea, air law, the Antarctic treaty regime and the ITU framework under the theme of 'global commons'. This fed into an interactive roundtable discussion focusing on ‘hot topics’ in the fields of space law today.